If the age-old story is correct, the Hampshire village of Little London gets its evocative name from the flight of fearful residents from the capital during the Great Plague of 1665-1666.
But today’s inhabitants are up in arms at the prospect of a 21st-century exodus from London to their tucked away settlement.
They are upset that wealthy newcomers are eyeing up homes that most local people cannot afford and are warning would-be neighbours that Little London offers little and lacks the infrastructure to cope.
The village, which is located in countryside north of Basingstoke, has precious few amenities apart from one pub, the Plough, and a population of only a few hundred.
Resident Carol Donner, 65, said: “We have got this sign that says: ‘Welcome to Little London.’ We were going to put a sign underneath it and say: ‘Twinned with Greater London.’”
Donner, a retired teacher, said she and other villagers were working together to try stop the overdevelopment of Little London.
“There’s quite a few of us that are getting together and we have met up and come up with ideas and things we need to do. None of them are what we call nimby, they are people that have their heart and soul in the countryside and want to protect that,” she said.
“It’s an ancient village, there’s not many houses and it’s got no infrastructure at all. They are coming from London because they want a country pad and they are going to concrete over here.”
Among the applications are plans for houses, battery storage facilities, and conversions of barns into business units and event venues.
Donner added: “It’s just ridiculous. There’s no infrastructure, even if you thought you could build affordable houses, it’s not the right place for them. It’s greed over need and it’s the wrong houses in the wrong place. Why can’t people go and build affordable houses on brownfield sites that people can afford to buy?
“I looked at all the houses for sale within a two-and-a-half-mile radius and I stopped counting … 25 houses all over £700,000. No sooner is the ink dry on one application than another one pops up.”
A plan to build three detached houses in Little London is one of the new applications that sparked a protest from residents.
Tom Cullum, a carpenter and joiner who has lived in Little London for 37 years, said: “It’s just horrendous. The village is being infilled by houses – really expensive houses – over £700,000 to £800,000, and they’re filling in the spaces. It’s just gone crazy in this village and the traffic has doubled.
“The type of houses that are being built, local villagers couldn’t afford them anyway. They’re [for] people from London, I would have thought, businesspeople who want to come and live in a rural village.”
Kevin Chatburn, 69, the chair of the Tadley and Pamber Rural Protection group, which takes in Little London, said: “All of the houses that are being proposed in Pamber are typically £750,000 to £1.25m, so they’re being purchased by people from outside the area.
“They are not providing dwellings for those who are already living in the area, particularly young people. I’ve got relatives in their 30s and they have all moved out of the area completely because they can’t buy anything here.”
Little London is close to Pamber Forest, which is described by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust as “a beautiful ancient woodland bursting with wildlife”.
Objecting to one of the proposals on the Basingstoke and Deane borough council planning portal, Gary Hills said: “The proposed development is another attempt to extend the village into the surrounding farmland.”
On behalf of Pamber parish council, Chris Gunnell, a clerk, wrote: “There is no local need. At present there are at least 17 properties for sale in the area, there are 13 properties under construction in the parish and 30 yet to be constructed that have planning permission granted.”
There are a number of villages called Little London. Some also think the name may stem from the arrival of seasonal workers from the capital to work in the fields. It may also be a corruption of a stream called Little Loddon.
